Samsung is following the lead of Apple and Google, revealing it will add a Siri-like personal assistant to its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S8.

It's the first time a Samsung phone will have the feature and follows the tech company's acquisition of San-Francisco artificial intelligence startup Viv Labs last month. The open platform will let others build services with the assistant.

“It will be significantly differentiated from the current services we see in the market now,” said Samsung Mobile chief technology officer and head of research and design Injong Rhee.

"Developers can attach and upload services to our agent. Even if Samsung doesn't do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease."

The plans for its newest flagship phone, expected to launch next year, follow a disastrous couple of months for the brand.

Samsung is the biggest smartphone maker in the world, but faces increasing pressure in a saturated market and amid stiff competition from rivals, and analysts believe innovation among smartphone makers has plateaued.